BOISE, Idaho — Wednesday Weekly…September 11, 2024.
It would have been the biggest upset in school history, and it almost happened. Boise State, an 18½-point underdog, took No. 7 Oregon to the final snap of the game last Saturday before falling 37-34 at Autzen Stadium. The Broncos will forever rue their special teams failures against the Ducks, but the bottom line is: the loss actually boosted Ashton Jeanty’s Heisman Trophy prospects, and it did nothing to derail the Broncos’ hopes for the College Football Playoff. Now it’s a matter of takin’ care of business.
DEFENSIVE DEVELOPMENT
Momentum in college football is not overrated. Thanks to its defense, Boise State had it in the fourth quarter, then lost it. Marco Notarainni’s fumble recovery put a gush of adrenaline into the Broncos sideline, and that multiplied with Jeanty’s 70-yard touchdown run that tied the game on the next play. Then there was another surge on the next Ducks possession when Ty Benefield recovered a Dillon Gabriel fumble at the Oregon 22. Jeanty’s third TD of the night gave Boise State the lead, and it was up to the Broncos defense to dictate things from there. It didn’t really get the chance, as the 100-yard return on the ensuing kickoff just sapped that momentum.
Even with chunk plays, Boise State defenders made tremendous headway from Week 1 to Week 2. The Broncos sacked Gabriel four times and did a good job of limiting Oregon’s running game. Those were things they did well at Georgia Southern the week before. What Boise State didn’t do well in the opener was keep a lid on explosive plays and get off the field on third down. The defense did surrender three long pass plays in Eugene, but those accounted for most of Gabriel’s yards. And the Ducks were only 4-of-12 on third down conversions.
THE JEANTY JOURNAL
What can you say about Jeanty? Well, you can say what he says: his offensive line has been tremendous. The Broncos were already without Mason Randolph at center, with Zach Holmes filling in. Then they lost right guard Roger Carreon on their second offensive snap. In came Tyler Keinath, who had spelled Ben Dooley at Georgia Southern. And Jeanty still rushed for 192 yards against an elite run defense. I don't think Jeanty was touched on his 70-yarder. On the right side of the O-line, Keinath, right tackle Hall Schmidt and tight end Matt Lauter obliterated every Duck in his path at the point of attack. Impressive.
Stewart Mandel of The Athletic has echoed what many national scribes are saying: “The best player in the country so far has been Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty.” So much for a Group of 5 player having no shot at the Heisman Trophy (there hasn’t been a non-power conference Heisman winner since BYU’s Ty Detmer 34 years ago). Jeanty’s effort at Oregon also earned him another Mountain West Player of the Week honor. His nine touchdowns are the most in the first two games of the season in 26 years—since Ricky William did it for Texas in 1998. If you go to Twitter (er, “X”), you will see Jeanty’s 70-yard romp and his 31-yard tackle-breaking masterpiece over and over, and virtually all the tweets are from national college football followers.
KOETTER’S CALLING
Let’s talk about Boise State offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter as a play-caller and clock manager. It’s kind of like he’s been there/done that, right? Koetter called a solid game at Oregon. The pass plays were there—needless to say, too many of them just didn’t connect. But let’s go to the Broncos’ two-minute drill at the end of the first half. With a 17-14 lead, they got the ball back with 1:52 left and marched 77 yards, starting with Jeanty’s 31-yard pinball run. Sure, Boise State had to settle for a 20-yard Jonah Dalmas field goal with two seconds left—and it’s easy to see what four additional points with a touchdown would have meant. But it was still impressive in front of a hostile crowd of 58,134 against the then-No. 7 team in the country. You have to like the offense’s chances moving forward this season.
TEUBNER CATCES A BREAK
KTVB’s Jay Tust reported Tuesday night that Boise State appealed the suspension of safety Alexander Teubner for targeting in the Oregon game, and that the Broncos won the appeal. Teubner was ejected early in the third quarter for a glancing blow delivered to Gabriel when he went into a slide. Tust noted that on such a play, "forcible contact" is a requirement, according to the NCAA rulebook. Teubner was supposed to be suspended for the first half of Boise State’s next game. Instead, he’ll be able to start against Portland State a week from Saturday.
THE OTHER SIDE OF NIL?
It was clear last week that—despite all the four and five-star recruits dotting Oregon’s roster—there’s something wrong with Ducks. Former Boise State quarterback and offensive coordinator (and veteran coach) Mike Sanford said something on the Bronco Nation News postgame show that resonated with me. He said Oregon looked like a group of guys who are making a lot of money and are not engaged. That’s the double-edged sword in the NIL world. Chemistry in the big-money NIL programs can be dicey, and the Ducks don’t look like they have it. Players get spoiled and distracted. Boise State doesn’t have that problem. The Broncos have a great culture. NIL works the way it was originally designed to at Boise State—players representing local businesses and getting paid for it. Jeanty is a justifiable exception.
THE BRONCOS’ FUTURE DOCKETS
Some Boise State scheduling updates for the bye week. The 2026 non-conference schedule has been filled out by a one-off game against South Dakota on the blue turf and the first of a home-and-home series against Western Michigan. It’ll be the Broncos’ first game against South Dakota since their first-ever NCAA Playoff game against the Coyotes in the Division II ranks in 1973. Western Michigan will be Broncos versus Broncos—this first one will be in Kalamazoo. The other non-cons in 2026 are at Oregon and home with Memphis. The game at Washington in 2029 will move from September 22 to September 15. And the series against Houston has been saved, and remains home-and-home. The games will take place in 2030 in Boise and 2031 in Houston.
EYES ON THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Despite Boise State’s bye week, there’s plenty of intrigue on the Mountain West front this week. It starts Friday night when UNLV visits Kansas. This would be a nice win for the Rebels, who already have a nice one over Houston. On Saturday, it’s Colorado-Colorado State, and that game’s in Fort Collins. Can the Rams keep the Coach Prime ship adrift? Utah State gets Utah in Logan—biggest home game for the Aggies in many a moon. And San Diego visits Cal. Advantage Bears, especially after the way they took down Auburn last Saturday. The game from last week that will have staying power is San Jose State’s 17-7 stunner at Air Force. That was an eye-opener—especially for the Falcons.
VANDALS & YOTES
Idaho may be 1-1, but what an outstanding start to the season for the Vandals. They followed the scare they threw into Oregon with a 17-13 road win at Wyoming last week. And this next one will be just as fun as the first two. Albany, who knocked Idaho out of the FCS Playoffs 30-22 in the quarterfinals last December, is right back in the Kibbie Dome Saturday night. Meanwhile, College of Idaho is fresh for its first road trip of the season, as the Yotes are coming off a bye. C of I travels to Montana Western after outscoring its first two opponents 110-7. Safe to say this a going to be a much bigger challenge.
‘PROPOURRI’
Troy Merritt gets a fresh start as the PGA Tour’s fall swing kicks off with the Procore Championship in Napa, CA. The former Boise State star is playing for his 2025 PGA Tour card, as he sits at No. 141 the FedExCup standings. The fall events will finalize the top 125 who will retain exempt status for next year, with Nos. 126-150 retaining conditional status. And the Boise Hawks did not go out the way they wanted. The season ended Sunday with an 11-6 win at Great Falls, but the Hawks missed out on the Pioneer League Playoffs by three games. Boise’s overall record for the season was 52-44.
THIS DAY IN SPORTS…September 11, 1985:
Cincinnati’s Pete Rose records the 4,192nd hit of his big league career, passing the legendary Ty Cobb for the all-time lead. Rose got the record-breaker on a single to left-center-field off San Diego pitcher Eric Snow in his first at bat of the game. But Rose may have actually reached the mark three days earlier. New century research found that two of Cobb’s hits may have been counted twice, thus dropping his actual hit total to 4,189.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
